Obviously your heater is not working during the main wash cycle. This could be caused by a bad heating element of course, a bad thermostat, a bad controller, or even the door latch (1 of the 2 switches may be bad or may not be getting engaged when you close the door).

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Related Questions:

The white residue is from the new environmentally safe soap. Check
your soap and see if it is phosphate free soap and that will be your issue. Also
either you have hard water or you're seeing either calcium or lime deposits. You
should use the jet dry for every load. There should never be any suds in a
dishwasher. Do not use liquid dish detergent for the dishwasher.Try running a
load without dishes, using vinegar, or a bottle of Dishwasher Magic. Another
possibility could be you're not getting enough water. The level should be close
to the heater(check your tech sheet to be sure). The water temp should be at
least 140 deg.F (no matter what the box says) Also, use a good brand of
detergent (Cascade) and be sure your wetting Agent dispenser is full. (jet
dry)You should not have to pre-wash your dishes..just scrape them well.The
detergent actually needs some dirty dishes to work properly..fats, protien,
etc. to make up 1 more chemical for the detergent.Another important step is to
run the hot water faucet before running your d/w to "purge" the cold
water out of the line.

dishwashers have a rinse aid
dispenser. If your dishwasher has this dispenser, fill it up
periodically and it will release the appropriate amount of rinse aid
automatically at the right time during the wash cycle. This will help
your dishes rinse more cleanly.

Rinse aid in solid form
Some older dishwashers or basic models do not have an
automatic rinse aid dispenser. In this case, you can buy rinse aid in
solid form that attaches to your dishwasher rack. Solid rinse aid can be
hard to find in stores because it is not commonly used, but it can be
purchased online.

Vinegar or lemon juice
Appliance repairmen will tell you that one of the common
problems they see with dishwashers is the buildup of excess detergent.
If there is too much detergent in your dishwasher, your dishes will not
rinse cleanly, no matter how good the dishwasher is or how much rinse
aid you use. To clean the excess detergent that has built up inside your
dishwasher, put 3 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice (concentrate is
fine) in the empty dishwasher and run the dishwasher through a complete
cycle with no dishes. Do this twice, for two complete cycles of the
empty dishwasher with only vinegar or lemon juice added. The acid in the
vinegar or lemon juice will break up the detergent that has built up in
your dishwasher's interior.

After you have cleaned the detergent
buildup from the inside of your dishwasher, follow the steps below to
keep the buildup from happening again and to help your dishes rinse
cleanly and prevent residue from accumulating on the dishes.

Gel dishwasher detergent
Switch to a liquid or gel dishwasher detergent. Any brand will do.

Fill one compartment half full
Dishwashers will effectively clean dishes with much less
detergent than manufacturers often recommend. The bleach in the
detergent, combined with the extremely hot water used in the dishwasher
wash cycle, will clean and sanitize your dishes completely, even in
small amounts, and using less detergent helps prevent buildup and
residue from accumulating on your clean dishes.

Fill only one
detergent compartment(the one that snaps closed) half full with gel
detergent. Snap the opening closed and run your dishwasher as you
normally would. Your dishes will come out sparkling clean with no
buildup or residue, plus you'll save money by using less detergent!

www.dishwasherfilter.com has a great product specifically for this problem. it filters the water going into your dishwasher removing the hard minerals that cause this problem. after the first load my dishes looked amazing. it is very affordable and fits right under your sink.

Well the 2nd part of your question is probably the the reason it doesn't clean. If the soap door doesn't open then the dishes will probably not be cleaned. So.. I would focus on why the door doesn't open first.. is it sticking from old soap residue? If so, clean the dispenser with white vinegar and cycle it a few times without detergent and use the hottest/sanitary setting.. Then make sure you are using an approved dishwashing detergent for yuour wash cycle. Add some detergent to the dispenser and try cycling it without any dishes .. does the door open? If no, then you need to resolve that first.. If it does open, try running a cycle with about 1/2 the normal dish load and see if the door opened and the dishes came out clean.. Routinely, check and clean the drain filter so you aren't redistributing the food sediment from the previous load all over the next load of dishes.. Hope that helps..